Eric Olafson, Midshipman 69
Part 69: INTERLUDE: LARTHOP Larthop of course had heard of Cherubim . Being around for a long time and always connected to the hidden layer of things. Cherubim was a legendary operator in the clandestine world. That name had been whispered by those who knew things for a very long time. But like everyone else he thought of her as a myth. He never thought she still actually existed. There were a few whispered rumors about a shadowy, ghostlike woman acting on behalf of the old pre Union, Earth based Exo-terrestrial Intelligence Agency, but none of them sounded true or even possible. She supposedly acted on behalf of Earth Long before the formation of the Union , when Terra and its colonies had its own fleet, it also had its own Intelligence gathering service. Back then Earth had just stepped onto the galactic stage and only reached tech level three with the help of the Sarans.Back then Earth was weak and vulnerable, with a comparable tiny and weak fleet, but the Terran Intelligence Agency was legendary even back then, for its ruthless efficiency. Most of the other civilizations were unprepared for the unbridled brutality, the no rules no limits approach to everything the TIA operated. During those early years it became known that the Terran Intelligence service was operating outside any moral or ethical boundary.Abduction, blackmail, the systematic extermination of entire populations. Infiltrating families, religious groups. Using psychology, propaganda, psionics and methods no one ever considered. And like all key positions, the leader of this service was supposedly one of the mysterious Immortal Guides, picked and chosen by an entity known to a few as the Guardian of Earth. No one really believed that this was a true story of course. There was no mystical, enigmatic Guardian watching over the humans of Earth for millions of years with the ability to make two hundred individuals into Immortals, bestow each of them with extraordinary talents and powers. All this was just skillful propaganda, Larthop had always been sure of that. He, like so many others did not believe Richard Stahl or Admiral Mc Elligott were immortals or individuals who had been around for over 3000 years, but rather genetic or cybernetic crafted puppets acting as figureheads for the real unseen, unknown leaders in the background of that silently growing giant, called the Union. As the Union was founded, Earth officially became Terra and like all intelligence services of individual members the TIA was disbanded and its assets absorbed into the new Union Intelligence services such as NAVINT and ANA the official and only legal Intelligence agencies of the Union. All this went through Larthop’s mind for many times now ever since he had met that woman in the Uni or Pree chamber deep underneath the surface of the old Kermac Home world. He, the leader and first priest of the Church of Darkness had been on an odyssey like journey for a very long time now. It was like an enormous puzzle, and he had to cover much ground to get the pieces. It had started all so long ago, when it became apparent that he was an exceptional strong Psionic talent and had been accepted as the very first and most likely last student on Narth Prime. He was the very first Non Narth ever to set foot on that world. It was there he saw it and more so felt it, an artifact the Narth were guarding. It was so full of pure power and promised godlike omnipotence, it had filled his mind with an unquenchable desire ever since. He learned from the Narth Supreme that the artifact was one of twelve such pieces. Once combined a previously defeated entity of unimaginable evil would once more awake and seek revenge on those who lead to its defeat. His live changed forever and he was filled with burning desire to gain that power for himself. The Narth did not accept him for very long and asked him to leave. He denounced his Saresii roots after the High Council did not want him to return unless he would conform to their ways and abandon his quest. Because he was Saresii and had access to forbidden and forgotten knowledge and technology of the first age he looked forward to a very long life. Traveling to distant corners of the galaxy, studying at the World od Old itself, reading the Hidden Tablets of Asgerom he had spend the first centuries of his life, exclusively dedicated to the study of anything and everything he could find about the Dark God and the Dark Ones. He followed every lead, collected every shred of information hidden and burried inside legends and myths. He tried to find answers in magic, the arcane arts, he walked the way of the Uta, the forbidden way of those who use their Psionic powers to open gateways to the Underworld and tap into realms and powers better left alone.He became aware of the Antiverse, the Netherworlds and the secrets of the Universes that came before.He heard of the ‘Prophecy of Before and Yet to come’; he knew it was guarded by a group of Netherworld demons somewhere in the Igrass Expanse. While he was unable to access the actual text, he found and obtained a copy of it, from the Hidden Archives of the Gray Cats. With this information he was able to make a pact with a shadowy group from another plane of existence. He knew them only as the Brotherhood and could only contact them at certain times and only at one hidden gateway underneath the Golden Statue on the planet Netlor. He was recruited by them. as an agent in this universe and in return get knowledge and power from the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was obsessed about the Narth, without telling him why. But he had his suspicions, whenever his own overinflated self centered ego allowed it he acknowledged the fact that there was more to the Narth and that their very existence was closely tied to that Omniverse puzzle known as the Reign of the Old Entities. Following the instructions of the Brotherhood, he had made his way to Koken, the recently re-discovered planet of origin of the Kermac. Discovered by the Union no less. Why the Kermac had abandoned their home world and traveled over 20,000 light years to relocate their culture, he did not know, but he did find what the UNI had left behind and he did find the disc, the Brotherhood wanted him to find. The Disc turned out to be a galactic treasure map of sorts, showing him the position of a place called the Cave of Things. The map pointed to a planet 90,000 light years away. It was on Koken and in that hidden UNI chamber; where a human female wearing black leather had suddenly revealed herself to him. How she had managed to stay completely hidden from his Psionic powers was somewhat disturbing to him. He knew of Terrans using active camouflage and cloaking technology to make their soldiers completely invisible. An impressive feat on its own but that she appeared out of thin air was neither very impressive nor unexplainable to him. She introduced herself as Cherubim and offered him a way to reach that planet 90,000 light years away. He was weary of partnerships. He had partnered with the Kermac and a Thauran Union admiral and the whole affair had turned out to be nothing but a waste of time. The woman introducing herself as Cherubim also knew much about him, to much to be left alive and she offered a way to his next destination. Partnerships were nothing but tools. She offered him a way to a place he could not easily reach on his own and perhaps during that partnership a way could be found to eliminate her as a factor. Besides if the disc and the Brotherhood was correct, there was a token of power waiting for him. Once in his posession, neither Cherrubim nor the Brotherhood mattered anymore. He followed her to a small space ship, parked not far from the cave entrance, also perfectly camouflaged until she deactivated its cloaking shields. He could not identify the type or manufacturer of the craft, but it was well equipped and turned out to be very fast. That she could slip through Union battleship screens and sensor nets was very impressive but not unexpected for a leading Union intelligence operator. Similar she had no problems providing valid Union transponder codes as they approached the Kansas System. Even though it was quite a long trip from Koken to Wichita planet, he had spoken very little with her, but now as they were about to land on an unimportant planet deep in Union territory he left his cabin and went up to the flight deck. “I think it is about time you explain to me why we are approaching this world and perhaps tell me why you want to help me? If you are who you say you are; would you not be on Union side?” She swiveled around in the chair she was sitting in and folded her gloved hands over her crossed legs. She had long blonde hair and her face was an old style bio-flex mask, clearly designed to be recognized as a mask. She said to him. “There is a shortcut on this planet we are going to take. It will save us a lot of time. You can either go with me or try to find your own way to the Cave of Things.” “I accepted your help because you know more about me than anyone should and because I have no means to cross that kind of distance. I just don’t see the connection between this world and the Cave of Things, for now I am going along, but I am tired of being a pawn and I demand you explain yourself. I am not impressed by your name. I don’t believe you are an immortal. It’s an office, a front filled by a clone or someone trained for that posting.” “It matters not who you believe I am or not. I know who you are, Son of Darkness. I know you have been on Narth Prime and I know what your plans are. I am keeping an eye on you ever since you left Narth Prime.” She turned back to the console and answered a hail from the local port control. After she had exchanged the necessary information and identified her as a Union Citizen she received landing permission. Larthop watched her and he started to wonder if the legends and rumors he heard about this elusive Terran immortal weren’t true after all.”I was among the Narth over 300 of your years ago. Even if you are the same person as the legends know as Cherubim, you just lied. Nothing of Earth importance existed back then.” “You are a small minded fool, just as the Narth Supreme described you. Earth is far more important to all this than any other world. There have been students and entities at the World of Old long before Earth ascended. You are that very pawn you don’t want to be.” “So why did you watch me all this time? If I managed to do that for all those years, then I must be fairly important to you. Why not shutting me down or killing me, I heard of a rumor that you started out to be an Assassin on that blue planet of yours, long before the Earth monkeys accented onto the galactic stage?” “Ah so you do believe Cherubim is real after all.” “I mastered the dark arts, collected myths and legend for longer than anyone I know and I have seen things no one is allowed to see. I have an open mind if nothing else.” “You are as arrogant and blind as a Kermac wizard. You think you are the only one who studied what you call the dark arts. I have studied with Egyptian priests and Tibetan monks five thousand years before you were born.The Exalted himself let me to crypt hidden on the World of Old and revealed knowledge to me and yet I have not stopped studying and learning to this day. I do not claim to be the wisest or the most knowledgeable person in the Universe. I am watching you because you because you have been on Narth prime and the Narth Supreme asked me to keep an eye on you. Ever since you have seen the Token, you have acted with a one tracked mind. Its power is consuming you. Her ship descended, guided by traffic control and other automatic systems into the atmosphere of Wichita planet and approached Topeka port. The ship had a small bridge, but it was configured to the latest Terran style Bubble tech layout, meaning they both had an unobstructed view all around them. Even as they broke through the lowest cloud layer he could not see any city. There was a space port in a typical Union clover-leaf layout with a set of terminal buildings in the middle. All around the port and as far as they could see, even from this high up, were millions of animals penned up in fenced square sections of land. Six Meteor Type VI freighters all painted the same yellow red white and blue color scheme of the mighty Enroe Corporation were sitting on the land field they were approaching, with extended ramps and open freight hatches. Robots and workers were herding great numbers of these four legged, horned beasts inside. A Gulliver type freighter dwarving everything in sight, bearing the SII logo was just lifting off. Cherubim’s ship touched down on a yellow and black striped area that immediately lowered them below the surface. She got up and handed him a little black attachable PDD. “This makes you a NAVINT operative and will prevent many of the usual controls.” He had heard about the existence of those, the Kermac would have paid billions for one. All of the Union’s secret doors could be opened with one of these. His new and mysterious partner confirmed to be quite valuable and he had no illusions that she was more dangerous than anyone he had ever dealt with before. The possibility that she really was Cherubim and all the legends and stories about her were true became more likely by the moment. But he would find a way to kill her after she was no longer needed. He too had no moral or ethical limitations. Besides at the end of this quest, he would be a God. With this PDD and her ship, he could accomplish his quest faster and easier than he could ever imagine before. Cherubim stepped through an auto dresser and now wore a long black coat and knee high boots with rugged all terrain soles. Her face had changed to that of a middle aged woman with chestnut colored chin length hair. This time there was no telling if this was a mask or her real face,”I suggest you do the same, on this world it is always very likely you step into piles of animal droppings.” He followed her example and the machine equipped him with boots and the machine also outfitted him with a hat and a holster with the latest Union blaster weapon.”I have no illusions that you trust me, so I assume that SII TKU is for show and not loaded.” “That gun is fully functional and you might need it on our way to the cave. It is not without dangers. No I do not trust you, Larthop. I made it a core philosophy of mine to trust no one.” He followed her as she left her ship and walked to a slide belt in that sub surface hangar. If she trusted him with such a dangerous weapon, she must not be afraid of it, maybe the rumors about this woman were even less than half of the truth. The control officers at customs simply waved both of them through without checking anything. She led him through the entrance hall of the space ports main building and to a Taxi flier stand. As they stepped through a strong forced-air curtain it was to Larthop as if he ran into a wall. The stench was unbelievable intense and made him gag. She had no such problems and he suspected he had some sort of filters in her nose. He boarded one of the Taxi fliers after she had climbed inside. The air inside was clean and free of any odor. “By the Seven winged demons of Kathtrak, that was horrible!” “The seven winged demons of Kathtrak are actually a life form with about as much Intellect as a dog and have nothing demonic to them.” She said that in a schoolmasterly tone of voice while the Taxi was flying above the herds of penned animals.”If you are the master of all black arts as you claim you are, you would know that.” “The scriptures of Anntko the holy are over a million years old and ancient Saresii lore. Anntko the prophet lived before the Saresii ascended. Less than a handful of Saresii scholars even know about these scriptures and no one knows what Anntko really saw when he described his encounter with the winged Demons in the valley of Kathtrak. How would you know what they are?” “Maybe because Anntko showed me what he saw. If you survive all this and you finished your quest, maybe you find time to study in seriousness, you will be surprised what you can learn with a little patience.” The Flier had left the animals and pens behind and flew over rolling hills of green grass, towards a range of mountains in the distance. The taxi was piloted by a human and not automated and the man turned to look over his shoulder to face his passengers. “We are about to reach our famous Bone Yard Valley. If you look out to the right you see the first skeletons.” Larthop tried to hide the confusion he felt. It was his role and his place to be the one who knew more than others and act mysterious.Yet the woman had taken this role from him and made him feel small and insignifcant ever since he met her. The grass covered valley below, located between a ring of mountains was indeed littered with the skeletons of large animals. The flier circled down and landed next to a collection of temporary and permanent buildings. They were nestled against the sheer rock wall of a granite mountain. The flag of the Science Corps fluttered in the wind attached to a gleaming metal pole atop of the central building. He also noticed the heavy armed marines patrolling the area and watching the approaching taxi. The taxi-flier dropped them off before a barely visible force field fence. Between two fence projectors posts that served as a gate to this research compound. A sign identified this as a security controlled area and informed visitors that further approach required project and site specific credentials. Two marines accompanied by a fully equipped Cerberus robot, guarding that gate made it clear this was more than just a Science Corps installation as the Fleet and thus NAVINT was providing Site security. He had never seen on so close and he could not help but feel very uneasy. Those robots had a terrible reputation for being very intelligent, very aggressive and almost unstoppable. These Cereberus robots weren’t the combat and war fighting versions, but the sentry models fielded by NAVINT. The large psionic scanner heads and the addition of Neuro ripper projectors on their weapon arms were clear evidence of that. This time they had to stop and the marines checked them and their credentials. One of them a Corporal had his helmets face plate open and moved in his six ton Quasimodo Main Battle suit like he was born in it. The Corporal was human so it looked like and his face looked as if made of a collection of building blocks, square with almost perfectly rectangular jaw lines. “This research facility is off limits to visitors.” Cherubim said. “We need to get to get inside. I am authorized and this man is with me. Disregard whatever you see on your scan when you check him. I take full responsibility.I am invoking Theta protocol. Day code authorization is Morpheus.” Just then the robot raised all four of his weapon arms.”Approaching individual on Suspect watch list.” The Corporal however said. “Stand down Cherby and initiate Theta protocol.” The robot actually powered down and the Corporal waved them through.” Hurry up, the bot is in maintenance cycle but not for long. Welcome to Wichita, Commandant.” She nodded to the Corporal and said.” You better run and follow me. It won’t be very healthy if you in the bots sensor range when it comes out of the cycle.” She was fast, Larthop had trouble keeping up running after her on a small steep path approaching a compount of temporary buildings. Cherubim stopped at the front of a tent like structure that was set right against the rock wall and placed her hand on a sensor field. That opened a slide door and she ushered him inside. He tried to catch his breath. “What was that all about? I thought you are the famous immortal Cherubim, should those robots not obey you?” “They do obey me, but these are NAVINT Units and you and the Church of Darkness are on several watch lists and this machine would have reported you to NELSON II. I don’t want certain people to know what I am doing, this is how I have always operated and I won’t change now.” “Nelson II is already operational?” “Indeed, it is still in Beta mode, but already spells bad news for many rats and worms who believed to be safe.” They had entered something like an air lock and only after the outer door had been completely closed the inner one opened and he could look down a long natural looking cave corridor. Lumi Plates had been glued to walls and ceiling, illuminating the place with bright light. The floor was made of freshly poured Duro-Crete. To the left was a large shipping container used as an office of sorts. A woman in a green overall came down a short flight of metal steps. “I am Dr. Brenda Brown and I am in charge of this facility. Since you are here I am sure you check out, but you have not been announced, so I like to know who you are and what it is you want.” “We are here to use the Spatial Gate to Planet Place. I am with NAVINT and have a highly classified mission. Here are my credentials.” Larthop suddenly understood. There was some sort of transport connection between this planet and the world he had to visit. The green dressed Science officer completed her inspection of the orders and pointed to four wheeled contraptions to the side of the container. “There are Quad-bikes. The cave ground gets a little rough about a mile down, we have not paved it further than that. There is still the bat problem, but they usually stay away now, especially if you use the Quad bikes. If they do attack use your guns and call for help. Some called for their extermination, but Xeno Bio is still researching them.” Cherubim thanked the woman and Dr. Brown added.” If you reach the Transition line, it is marked with a sign. Slow down your bikes, we had a few accidents from folks running into the cave wall after the transition, have a save trip.” Cherubim mounted one of the wheeled things and said. “It’s easy, you learn as you go.” “I never thought you could drive on a motor bike bridging a distance of 90,000 light years!” He said shaking his head. Part 70 » Category:Stories